Dover Thrift Editions
3 total works
"The religious fraud Tartuffe has wormed his way into the affections and household of rich merchant, Orgon, with pantomime piety and counterfeit zeal. So comprehensively has he hoodwinked Orgon that he looks set to succeed in driving away the son, marrying the daughter, seducing the wife and imprisoning Orgon. Moliere's classic satire was denounced on its first performance as a sacrilegious outrage and banned from further public view. Only after petition to Louis XIV was the ban lifted, and the play's trenchant mockery of human frailties has ensured its popularity ever since."
The Misanthrope, Moliere's richly sophisticated comic drama is accompanied in this volume by The Would-be Gentleman, another tale of a dangerously deluded and obsessive hero. Tartuffe dares to take on the subject of religious hypocrisy. Also included are Such Foolish Affected Ladies and Those Learned Ladies, both newly translated for this edition. Finally, The Doctor Despite Himself is a hilarious example of Moliere's long-standing vendetta against the medical profession.
